the AMP Issue 21

"If a bomb hits this building today, John Denver's back on top."
— Paul Simon, at the recording of "We Are the World," January 28th, 1985

In This Issue... [10 pages, approx 15 minutes to read] You'll Get...

• RECOMMENDS— 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

• NOT ONE OF the 100 GREATEST SINGER SONGWRITERS of All Time
— John Denver

•  BACKSTAGE PASS — the 2023 Kennedy Center Honors 3 Singer Songwriters— Barry Gibb, Queen Latifah and Dionne Warwick

• GUEST ARTICLE — 2024 Music Industry Predictions from Jay Gilbert

• PS from PS— the Soundtrack of Our Lives

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Here’s the playlist

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• RECOMMENDS— 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
(Not to be confused with 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die or 101 Albums That Changed Popular Music.)

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IMPORTANT! HEAD’S UP! Yes, there's a book, but NML's real recommend here is the 1001 Albums Generator Website, we've created a group there where we can all be listening to the same album each day. Tap the link and when you're asked for the ‘Project' name enter NewMusicLives— 3 caps no spaces— and you can get liner notes, listen… all no charge and no strings, ‘Cept harp, guitar and piano. Save the link for a new album each day.

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1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the 1001 Before You Die series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics to be the most important, influential, and best in popular music between the 1950s and the 2010s. The book is edited by Robert Dimery, an English writer and editor who had previously worked for magazines such as Time Out and Vogue.

Each entry in the book's roughly chronological list of albums is accompanied by a short essay written by a music critic, along with pictures, quotes, and additional information (such as the album's running time and producer). Compilations of various artists, and most film soundtracks, are excluded.

The 1001 Albums Generator Website will help you listen to them all so enter NewMusicLives to join in. One album a day.

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"The reason I love the 1001 Albums Generator is simple: It takes me to an album I had long since forgotten and gives me the chance to listen to the whole thing. That's  something I just do not do. Any more. Didn't do. People today seem to be happy to listen to single tracks or worse, clips of tracks. 

"The daily Album Generator post is always a surprise. Always interesting. Not always an album I wanted to listen to, but... I listen anyway, because I know it will expand my musical-mind and increase my creativity. I encourage you to make the time and listen... Listen to the whole album."
— Paul Saunders

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Here’s how it works: • Get Started— Simply enter a name to start your daily musical journey. • Explore Albums— Receive daily recommendations from the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die book. • Rate— Rate and review the albums. Read other users reviews.

Select from as many of the following genres as interest you:

• Metal / Hard Rock • Hip Hop • Jazz • Punk / Post Punk / New Wave • Rock / • Psychedelic / Grunge • Country / Folk • Pop / Singer Songwriter • Soul / Blues / Funk • Electronica • Britpop / Shoegaze / Indie • World / Samba / Salsa / Reggae.

• NOT ONE OF the 100 GREATEST SINGER SONGWRITERS of All Time
— John Denver

"I don’t want to just entertain people. 
I want to touch them.”
— John Denver

John Denver is NOT listed as one of the '100 Greatest Singer Songwriters of All Time.' And, he should be. Denver's enduring popularity is proven by the fact that he recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he wrote himself. He had 33 albums and singles that were certified Gold and Platinum in the U.S .with estimated sales of more than 33 million.

His hits like Take Me Home, Country Roads (the official state song of West Virginia), Rocky Mountain High (the official state song of Colorado), and Annie’s Song (the official song of at least a million-plus weddings) have solidified his status as one of the top-selling recording artists in the history of the music industry​​.

And yet... Yeah. It's complicated.

On forums like Steve Hoffman Music Forums, fans and critics of Denver have discussed various reasons for the backlash against him. Some point to his celebrity status— which transcended his music career— leading to criticism from those who viewed his fame and personal issues as overshadowing his musical contributions. Others argue that Denver's music was unfairly minimized in the public eye due to his post-fame challenges, including domestic abuse and drug problems​​.

One significant incident that highlighted the tension between Denver and the music establishment (as one example) was the 1975 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards. During the event, Charlie Rich, who was to announce the Entertainer of the Year, set fire to the envelope revealing Denver as the winner. This act was seen by many as a symbol of the country music establishment's reluctance to embrace crossover artists like Denver.

So... you get to make up your own heart and mind about whether or not John Denver is one of 'The Greatest Singer Songwriters of All Time.' For our part, he is.

Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer and songwriter. He is known for popularizing acoustic folk music in the 1970s as part of the ongoing Singer Songwriter movement of the mid-to-late 20th century. Denver is widely recognized as a cultural icon of the American West.

After traveling and living in numerous locations while growing up in his military family, Denver began his music career with folk music groups during the late 1960s. Starting in the 1970s, he was one of the most popular acoustic artists of the decade and one of its best-selling artists. By 1974, he was one of America's best-selling performers; AllMusic has called Denver "among the most beloved entertainers of his era".

Denver recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he wrote himself. He had 33 albums and singles that were certified Gold and Platinum in the U.S by the RIAA, with estimated sales of more than 33 million units. He recorded and performed primarily with an acoustic guitar and sang about his joy in nature, disdain for city life, enthusiasm for music, and relationship trials. Denver's music appeared on a variety of charts, including country music, the Billboard Hot 100, and adult contemporary, earning 12 gold and four platinum albums with his signature songs Take Me Home, Country Roads, Poems, Prayers & Promises, Annie's Song, Rocky Mountain High, Calypso, Thank God I'm a Country Boy, and Sunshine on My Shoulders.

Denver appeared in several films and television specials during the 1970s and 1980s, including the 1977 hit Oh, God!, in which he starred alongside George Burns. He continued to record into the 1990s, also focusing on environmental issues as well as lending vocal support to space exploration and testifying in front of Congress to protest censorship in music. Known for his love of Colorado, Denver lived in Aspen for much of his life. In 1974, Denver was named poet laureate of the state. The Colorado state legislature also adopted Rocky Mountain High as one of its two state songs in 2007, and West Virginia did the same for Take Me Home, Country Roads in 2014.

An avid pilot, Denver was killed in a single-fatality crash while piloting a recently purchased light plane in 1997 at age 53.

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To visit on the MusicThisDay.com website, tap the link: the 100 Greatest Singer Songwriters of All Time 

•  BACKSTAGE PASS — the 2023 Kennedy Center Honors 3 Singer Songwriters—  Barry Gibb, Queen Latifa and Dionne Warwick

The Kennedy Center Honors are an annual event honoring those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. They have been presented since 1978, culminating each December in a gala celebrating five honorees in the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C.
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This year... The 46th Annual Kennedy Center Honors show will air Wednesday, December 27 (8:00-10:30 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and stream on Paramount+.
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This year's Singer Songwriter honorees are:

Barry Gibb, who rates among the most prolific, influential, and acclaimed musicians ever to have lived. Guinness World Records and Billboard list him alongside only Paul McCartney as one of the two most successful popular songwriters of all time. As a member of the Bee Gees with his brothers Robin and Maurice, the trio sold over 220 million records, while writing 21 different songs to top the U.S. or U.K. charts.

Born on the Isle of Man in the U.K. in 1946, Gibb is a nine-time Grammy Award® winner and an inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall Of Fame. When Wayne Newton covered the 18-year-old Gibb’s They’ll Never Know in 1964, he became the first of hundreds of American artists to record Gibb-written songs—everyone from Al Green, the Foo Fighters, Snoop Dogg, Elvis Presley, and Destiny’s Child.

The Bee Gees exploded internationally in 1967 with early classics like To Love Somebody, Massachusetts, and Words. What could have qualified as an entire career turned out to be merely a warm up for Gibb and his brothers’ culture-defining, empirical phase a decade later. With late ‘70s tracks like Stayin’ Alive, Night Fever, and How Deep Is Your Love, the Bee Gees combined harmony and melody with the rarest of abilities to move the heart as well as the feet.

Gibb was also unafraid to give away songs most performers wouldn’t dare part with, be it Frankie Valli’s Grease or younger brother Andy’s I Just Want To Be Your Everything. Both were solo compositions, both became U.S. number one’s. The hits continued in the ‘80s and ‘90s, as well as entire albums of platinum-coated, Gibb-crafted songs for the likes of Barbra Streisand (Woman In Love), Dionne Warwick (Heartbreaker), Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton (Islands In The Stream), and Diana Ross (Chain Reaction).

From equaling the Beatles’ six consecutive U.S. number one singles, to being the only Songwriters to have five songs simultaneously in the U.S. top 10, the music of Sir Barry Gibb and his brothers is— and forever will be— etched into the very fabric of American life.

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Queen Latifah is a Grammy® and Emmy Award®–winning and Oscar®-nominated musician, actress, producer, label president, author, and entrepreneur. She has earned six Grammy Award® nominations, as well as a Grammy Award® for Best Solo Rap Performance in 1994. In 2004, she was nominated for Best Female Rap Solo Performance for Go Head. In 2005, she was nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album for The Dana Owens Album, and in 2008, she was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Trav’lin Light.  

Her previous film credits include Jungle Fever, Set It Off, Chicago, Bringing Down the House, Beauty Shop, The Last Holiday, Life Support, Bessie, Girls Trip, and End of the Road. Her television credits include Living Single and Star. Latifah starred in the live television adaptations of The Wiz Live! for NBC and The Little Mermaid Live! for ABC. Latifah can currently be seen in the hit CBS series The Equalizer, for which she is also an executive producer.

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Dionne Warwick is a Lifetime Grammy® music legend who continues to regale audiences internationally to this day. From the early 1960s on, her iconic sound set the bar in American pop music by earning more than 60 charted hit songs and selling over 100 million records. She has done more than entertain the world; as a humanitarian, she has advocated for global well-being through such efforts as AIDS awareness.

After teaming with renowned songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David, her first major release in 1962, Don't Make Me Over kicked off 18 more consecutive Top 100 singles. By the 1970s Warwick made the top of the pop charts with Then Came You, a million-selling duet with The Spinners in 1974. After a label switch to Arista Records, she entered her third decade of hit-making with a Platinum-selling album, Dionne, produced by Barry Manilow with its back-to-back hits I’ll Never Love This Way Again, and Déjà Vu.

In using music to support her activism, Warwick performed in the all-star charity single, We Are the World. She also made recording history with Gladys Knight, Elton John, and Stevie Wonder with That's What Friends Are For, a number one hit from 1985 and the first recording dedicated to raising awareness for AIDS.

Twenty-plus years into the new century, Warwick continues to blaze the trail as the crowned Queen Of Twitter thanks to her constant communication on social media. She also made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live, which has been running The Dionne Warwick Talk Show skit for a few seasons. An upcoming Gospel album is in the works which features duets with Dolly Parton (Peace Like A River) and son/manager/producer Damon Elliott (I Kneel).

in partnership with the Jim Parker Songwriter Series

• GUEST ARTICLE — 2024 Music Industry Predictions
 from Jay Gilbert of Your Morning Coffee and Label Logic

Because it's that time of year...

1. As generative AI tools for creating songs from an artist’s body of work become more mainstream and ubiquitous, a “new Napster” will launch to showcase and distribute all of the “Fake Drakes” being created. 

2. Worldwide, music copyright value will increase from $41.5 billion to $50 billion.

3: We will see music streaming subscription prices increase. A basic single-user monthly rate will be $12.99.

4. Performers will finally be paid when their song is played on the radio in the U.S. (The U.S. is the only major country in the world where terrestrial radio is not required by law to pay royalties to performers or recorded-music copyright owners of the songs played on-air. Streaming services and SiriusXM satellite radio already do pay such performance royalties.)

5. Catalog valuations will stabilize, powered by publishing and streaming gains.

6. More Digital Service Providers (DSPs) will add playlist pitching features like the one Tidal recently started testing.

7. A Bandlab artist will celebrate a #1 hit

8. The number of tracks uploaded to DSPs (not including Soundcloud and YouTube) on average each day will move from 60,000 today to 120,000. If you include Soundcloud and YouTube, that number will grow from 120,000 today to 240,000.

9. Physical sales (CD, vinyl, cassette) will gain market share worldwide.

and our NML favorite prediction...

10. Artists, managers, labels, distributors, and venues will create new ways to super-serve the super-fan.

11. To improve recommendation and search, music and video platforms will move from primarily metadata tags to deeper song analysis (lyrics, composition, and sound)

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Jay Gilbert is the co-host of the Music Biz Weekly and Your Morning Coffee podcasts. He’s also a master music marker and strategist via his consultancy Label Logic. Here a recommendation we wrote in the AMP Issue 9, on September 20th.

Your Morning Coffee... 
Weekly Music News For the New Music Business 

Simon Owens, host of The Business of Content podcast, wrote, "Industry veteran, Jay Gilbert, writes one of my favorite newsletters, Your Morning Coffee. This highly-curated newsletter offers a weekly snapshot of the New Music Business. Not only that, Jay and Mike Etchart, former host of the syndicated Sound & Vision Radio program, host a fantastic weekly podcast. In it, they break down the top stories so you can stay on top of the latest news and trends in the industry. 

"Working for companies like Warner Music and Universal Music Groups, Jay got to know just about every facet of the music-making process. Then in 2015, he struck off on his own and launched a consulting business. To help raise awareness of his services, he began curating a weekly newsletter called Your Morning Coffee. 

"What started out as an email sent out to a few hundred friends eventually grew to over 15,000 readers and is now one of the most influential newsletters in the music industry." 

Tap here to SUBSCRIBE to Your Morning Coffee 

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Help us spread the word about the AMP. 

There's one BIG reason we give it away Free. No strings. 

Our Mission & Purpose is to 'Put Success In Your Singer Songwriter Career.' We know cost can be a barrier for aspiring creative artists to get the knowledge, resources and inspiration they need to succeed. So... the AMP is free. 

If you're a TrueFan... You enjoy the AMP... ✭✭✭✭✭...  Benefit from what's in each issue... And you're willing and able to spread the word with and for us... PLEASE. And THANK YOU! 

Send your friends, family, band members, roadies and complete strangers this link: New Music Lives FREE. They'll get the AMP. the Book. the Group. No charge. No strings. 

We're a word-of-mouth-movement because: It's Time... for a Change. Big Time. Past Time. We're asking you to help us make that happen. 

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• PS from PS— the Soundtrack of Our Lives

There are albums that define us, that are part of the fabric of our lives. We all have them.

Several that I remember were part of my teenage years: David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust. Harry Chapin - WOLD. Led Zeppelin - 4. Black Sabbath = Black Sabbath. There were more. 

One of the most defining for me was the Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More. How I wished I could have been there. As a 12 year-old Brit kid I understand why my parents did not let me cross the Atlantic for a rock concert. But the event is still a huge part of my memory.

Here's what I'm asking you to do for me: Think about the top 5 albums you'd list in the 'Soundtrack of Your Life.' Write it down. Send me a copy: paul (at)* newmusiclives.com. I'd love to publish a list of NML Member's Albums. BTW, don't be shy by forgetting to include your own album on the list. 

And please, accept my personal recommendation to sign up for the 1001 Albums Generator when you click the link it will ask you for the group name enter NewMusicLives 3 caps and no spaces and then listen to a whole album each day. I promise it'll help your Singer Songwriter musical education and enrich your life. Save the link for a new album each day.

* the (at) instead of @ keeps the evil transformers away.

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Thank You our True Fans for reading the AMP. Give us your feedback. 

And PLEASE, if you've got any Singer Songwriter friends, pass the AMP on, because...

It’s Time... for a Change. Big Time. Past Time…